Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' Earns Six-Minute Standing Ovation at Venice, Heads to Theatres and Netflix
Lee Chang-dong's first film in eight years, Possible Love, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 5 September 2026 and received a six-minute standing ovation in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema, where the cast was guided toward the exit at the six-minute mark (Variety).
The South Korean romantic drama runs 164 minutes and follows two married couples whose lives intersect after a funeral. Lee co-wrote the screenplay with Oh Jung-mi. The cast brings together four of Korean cinema's most recognised performers: Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong (Variety; La Biennale di Venezia).
Possible Love is Lee's return to Venice competition after nearly a quarter-century. He last competed for the top prize in 2002, when his film Oasis won the Silver Lion for best director. His body of work also includes Green Fish, Peppermint Candy, Secret Sunshine and Poetry — films that established him as one of Korea's most closely watched directors. His previous feature, Burning, premiered at Cannes in 2018 (Variety).
The film screened in the Venezia 83 Competition strand of this year's festival, a lineup that also included Robert Pattinson's Primetime and an Oasis documentary (Variety; La Biennale di Venezia).
Reviews from the festival have been strong. Variety called it Lee's "quietly colossal new" film (Variety). The Guardian characterised it as "a finely judged study of exploitation and friendship" built around its tale of two couples (The Guardian).
Beyond the festival circuit, the film carries considerable awards weight. South Korea has selected Possible Love as its submission for the Academy Award for best international feature film (Variety). The category, formerly known as best foreign language film, honours a single picture chosen by each submitting country.
Netflix is releasing the film, which will also screen at the Toronto and New York film festivals. It opens in US theatres on 23 October and begins streaming globally on Netflix on 6 November — a two-week theatrical window before the streaming debut (Variety).
Variety also published an interview with Lee, Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu discussing the film at Venice (Variety).
